Thriving environment

Our business is intrinsically linked to the environment as we rely on it for our raw product, water. For this reason we do all we can to ensure there is a clean, resilient and sustainable supply available for current and future water customers whilst ensuring there is enough water available to support the needs of the environment too. Click 'Discover More' to find out more from our Head of Environment, Emma Goddard.

Low carbon sustainable business

We’re committed to playing our part to tackle the causes of climate change and transitioning to low-carbon operations, achieving net zero by 2030. Click ‘Discover more’ to find out more from our Carbon Strategy and Economic Manager, Matt Hersey.

Securing the future of water

Resilient water resources are needed to ensure we have enough water to supply our customers into the future, while ensuring enough remains in the environment so habitats can thrive. Click ‘Discover more’ to find out more from our Head of Water Resources, Nick Price.

Future ready business

Our people are dedicated to providing you with the best service possible, whether they’re out in the field searching for leaks, managing our operational sites, testing the quality of your water or answering your queries. Each and every person within the business is dedicated to delivering you the safe reliable tap water supply you expect. Click 'Discover more' to find out more from our Head of HR, Sian Jenkins.

Introduction by Nick Price, Head of Water Resources

A resilient and sustainable water supply is more important than ever due to the challenges of population growth, climate change and the need to protect and enhance our natural environment.

We are delighted that the Secretary of State approved our Water Resources Management Plan 2024 (WRMP24) before we published the plan in October. This details how we’ll provide a reliable and resilient water supply over the next 50 years by investing in new infrastructure, reducing leakage and encouraging water efficiency. Adequate funding for our PR24 business plan is vital to achieve the WRMP24’s stretching targets.

Preparatory work for the Broad Oak Water scheme, near Canterbury is under way and we will carry out further feasibility studies on a New Arlington reservoir option in East Sussex to find the best solution. We discussed our strategy for this part of Sussex with regulators and stakeholders during a workshop at Newhaven in October.

We continue to liaise closely with Water Resources South East to ensure our WRMP24 aligns with the regional plan. Stakeholder engagement and technical work has already started as part of the planning for our next draft plan (dWRMP29).

On the supply side, work is nearing completion on our new resource at the Butler Water Treatment Works near Maidstone. We are improving resilience by ensuring our existing sources, such as Coggins Mill Water Treatment Works in Sussex, are optimising their outputs.

We’re doing everything we can to protect our existing groundwater sources from pollution. A rise in nitrates caused by the impacts of climate change (heavy rainfall/very wet winters) and land management practices can affect water quality in some areas. Our Environment team is working with landowners to protect groundwater quality via our award-winning catchment management programme.

Reducing leakage is a high priority for us and our customers. During the year we’ve continued to find and fix leaks across our network to protect water supplies and make them resilient for the future. 

At the start of the 2020-2025 business period, our leakage performance was in a strong position. However, the performance has been impacted in recent years by extreme weather events, and is still recovering. Nevertheless, we have repaired 18,214 network leaks during 2024/2025 – an increase of 12 per cent on the three-year average – and repaired 4,561 customer-side leaks. 

As part of our leakage recovery strategy, we are increasing the number of staff out finding and fixing leaks, and we’ve invested in new leak detection technology and systems to  improve the visibility of our pipeline network. We work with industry-leading specialists in leakage identification and management to continually improve our data for better leak repair and prioritisation.

Satellite technology and no-dig repairs are two ways we’re using innovation to find and fix leaks while minimising interruptions to customer supplies. We’re also starting to use fibre optic cable networks to identify leaks and we’re collaborating with industry partners on a new National Leakage Research and Test Centre where new technologies can be developed and tested out without disrupting customers’ supplies or affecting water quality

Helping customers to use less water is another priority to secure the future of water. We arrange audits in customers’ homes and in businesses to find leaks and provide water efficiency advice. We also engage with schools to raise awareness of water efficiency 

Our key measures

river

Company sites protected from risk of flooding

Making sure our sites can continue to operate following extremes of weather is vital to help ensure the resilience of your water supply. By 2024/25 we have committed to protecting 92 of our sites from flooding with less than a 1/1000 Annual Exceedance Probability.

Pipelaying

Strategic main – Wellwood to Potters Corner

Our plan to lay a new 15 kilometre long pipeline between our Wellwood and Potters Corner water storage tanks will enable us to pump more water into the Ashford area. The new water main is due to be fully commissioned by September 2026.

Arlington Reservoir during prolonged dry weather

Risk of severe restrictions in a drought

Dry weather (or a drought) is a natural event which happens when a period of prolonged low rainfall creates a water shortage. Our target for 2024/25 is to have zero customers impacted by a 1-in-200 year drought.

A leak on a water pipe

Leakage

We are committed to reducing the amount of water lost to leaks both on our network, and in customers’ homes, by 15 per cent between 2020 and 2025.

cup

Play an active role regionally in relation to the impact of housing growth

Our responsible business commitment is to play an active role regionally in relation to the impact of housing growth on water.

Shower

Per Capita Consumption

By 2025, we are targeting the annual amount of water used by each of our customers to reduce from 143.1 litres a day in 2019/20 to 131.5 litres a day.